IFR World Robotics 2008 2007: 6.5 million robots in operation world-wide

IFR World Robotics 2008 2007: 6.5 million robots in operation world-wide

Article Type: News From: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 36, Issue 4

Japan has the highest robot density In 2011 more than 18 million robots will populate the world

At the end of 2007 about one million industrial robots and 5.5 million service robots were worldwide operating in factories, in dangerous or tedious environment, in hospitals, in private houses, in public buildings, underwater, underground, on fields, in the air, in the space – robots are everywhere! Up to the end of 2011 more than 17 million service robots and 1.2 million industrial robots will populate the world, reports the IFR Statistical Department in the new study “World Robotics 2008.”

Industrial robots – key component to industrial automation!

In 2007, 114,365 new industrial robots were installed worldwide, the world market grew by 3 percent. In terms of value the market grew by 11 percent to almost US$6 billion. This generally does not include the cost of software, peripherals and systems engineering. The actual robotic systems market value may be about two or three times as large. The world market for robot systems in 2007 can therefore be estimated to be in the order of US$18 billion.

As in recent years, the results in the major regions were quite different: decline in Asia, recovery in the Americas, continuing growth in Europe. In 2007, about 59,300 robots were supplied to Asian countries (including Australia), about 4 percent fewer than in 2006. The main markets, Japan and the Republic of Korea, saw a continuing decline in robot investments, as did Taiwan. On the other hand, the emerging markets, such as China, the Southeast Asian countries and India, all achieved significant increases in supply. The electrical/electronics industry, which invested very heavily in 2005, cut robot purchases by half in 2006 and continued to cut back in 2007 throughout Asia and Australia. Supplies to the automotive industry also decreased further. Supplies to all other industries only decreased slightly.

Robot investment is still booming in China, the third largest Asian robot market, with 6,600 units supplied in 2007, an increase of 14 percent on the previous year. Here, demand is increasing in all industries, including the automotive sector. The supply of industrial robots was up by 11 percent in India. Robot sales to Taiwan (Province of China) declined by 44 percent.

Total supplies in all other Asian markets, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, surged by 25 percent. In Australia, sales increased, but only by 2 percent.

About 19,600 industrial robots were supplied to the Americas in 2007, 9 percent more than in 2006. Strong demand from the motor vehicle industry in the highly competitive US and Canadian markets was the main reason for this solid result. Sales and production volumes of cars have stagnated or even declined over the last few years, which have also witnessed changes in the respective market shares of the individual manufacturers. The car market in the USA and Canada declined once again in 2007. The “Detroit 3” – GM, Ford and Chrysler – had to cut production while Japanese and Korean companies gained market share and continued to increase their capacities. As such, the increase in robot shipments to the automotive industry was mainly the result of investment by foreign firms. ”General industry”, i.e. all other industries – reduced robot purchases by 4 percent.

Robot supplies to Mexico were expected to increase in 2007, but in fact they were down. It seems that investments that had been announced were postponed until 2008. Strongly increasing demand for industrial robots has been registered in Argentina and Brazil. Deliveries to these countries almost doubled.

Sales of industrial robots in Europe were up by 15 percent to about 34,900 units, the highest number of robots ever recorded in one year. This was the result of surging investments in the non-automotive sector as well as in the motor vehicle industry.

Future of industrial robots – technical trends and customer trends

There is a worldwide trend towards automation in the “non-automotive industry,” which was strongly apparent in 2007. Robot suppliers are offering increasingly tailored solutions to these customers. The metal industry, the food and beverage industry, the glass industry, the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry, and the photovoltaic industry continued to increase their robot investments.

The main customer – the automotive industry – is changing. Significant growth in unit sales of cars can only be realised in the growing markets of India, Southeast Asia, Russia and other Eastern European countries. In these countries, demand is mainly for small and low-cost cars. In the mature car markets of Western Europe, North America, Japan and the Republic of Korea, growth in value of turnover is only possible as a result of improvements in technology. Furthermore, demand for small, economical and low-cost cars as well as for environmentally-friendly cars is becoming increasingly important also in these markets. Alternative drive systems are gaining in importance given the rising price of fuel.

Motor vehicle suppliers are reorganizing their business with their suppliers. They are reducing the number of direct suppliers. They are outsourcing complete production processes and concentrating on value-adding processes. Automotive parts suppliers have had to restructure in order to meet the demands of motor vehicle suppliers. In both industries, the number of suppliers will consolidate in the coming years.

The automated handling and manipulation of parts and material is gaining substantially in importance in all manufacturing sectors. Manufacturers using machine tools are increasing the hours that factories can stay operational via automation with industrial robots. Robots replace workers as managers of machine tools, providing tools, material and parts from stores near to the machine tool. This enables machining centers to keep running 24 h a day, seven days a week.

Palletizing, packaging, picking and placing has gained rapidly in importance over the past three years in Europe. Automation in the food and beverage industry – the principal industry for this application – is very high in Europe. The Americas lag far behind with automation in this sector. Labour is still cheap in many regions in Asia, therefore the degree of automation is still not as high as in Europe.

Improvements in sensor technology like robot vision, force sensing and environment recognition will enhance quality control and inspection. Improvements in communications such as remote operation and better human-machine interfaces will open up new customer groups such as small and medium sized companies. Improvements in system technology, like off-line programming, safety and multi-robot cooperation will guarantee sophisticated solutions for automating processes.